National Girl Child Day puts focus on kids living on the edge

Dehradun: On National Girl Child day, several NGOs and people working for the uplift of the girls living on the fringes of the society emphasised on the need for motivating their parents so that the girls don’t leave the schools at an early age. In Uttarakhand, the female literacy rate stands at 70.01% as against the male’s 87.40 %. Poonam Rana, headmistress of a government girl’s high school in Phoolchaur near Haldwani, said:“For most of the families from financially weaker sections of society, like farmers or labourers, their daughters’ education still remains the last priority. Much of it is due to safety concern or lack of motivation of the parents. “We often try to counsel them to change their mind. Only after that, we progress towards ensuring that every girl child in the state is literate.” ‘Room to Read’, an NGO which has been running Girls’ Education Program (GEP) in the state and has worked closely with the girls from economically weaker sections of the society, said that the two main factors which are proving to be an obstacle are-- safety concerns and motivation of the parents.

“Often the girls staying in the far-flung areas of the state or city outskirts or near villages have to walk for 5 to 10 km to reach their schools. There are several cases of eve-teasing and many girls drop out in higher classes due to these factors which need to be addressed on priority. “We have set up Life Skill Centre’s in the schools, and our social mobilisers are working closely with them and the community to empower the girls and make them aware of how to fight these instances. We also hold counselling sessions and motivate the parents for whom education might be the last priority,” said Sonal Vishnoi, senior program officer from the organisation. ‘Room to Read’ has partnered with government and communities to support literacy and gender equality in education since 2005.